Interchangeable initial frame



I Aug. 27, 1940.

A. DEL SESTO 2,213,097

.INTERCHANGEABLE INITIAL FRAME Filea May 27, 1938 IIIIIIIIIIIII a ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 27, 1940 UNITED STTES FFEQE TENT 6 Claims.

My present invention relates to the jewelry art and has particular reference to an ornamental frame construction for receiving selected ornaments such as initial letters.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a construction for the mounting of selected ornaments in a frame, without distorting or application of force to the ornaments or the frame.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a construction in which ornament letters may be locked in a frame without the use of retaining force thereon and without relative movement.

An additional object of my invention is to provide a construction utilizing a small number of readily manufactured parts which may be manufactured at low cost, and which may be readily assembled by an employee or clerk in a 20 jewelry store.

With the above and other objects and advan- I tageous features in View, my invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in 25 conjunction with the accompanying drawing, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a plan View of a novel ornament com- 30 prising a frame and selected ornamental letters;

Fig. 2 is a rear View of the ornament containing parts thereof, showing the positioning of the ornaments in place;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, 5 positioning of a retainer to maintain the selected letters in place;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the ornament base;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the retainer;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the ornamental initials;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section on the line 88 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a modified construction for the retainer.

It has been found difficult to provide an ornamental construction for articles of jewelry such as buckles, brooches, and the like, which include 50 an ornamental frame set with a plurality of precious or semi-precious stones, the frame being provided with an opening in which one or more selected ornaments such as initial letters and also having gems or stones set therein, may be 55 mounted. Since both the frame and the ornashowing the ments are preferably set with stones, it becomes essential that the mounting be accomplished without the exertion of pressure and without bending or distortion of the parts, so' as not to displace any of the stones. I have therefore 5' provided a frame in which one or more ornaments may be positioned and held against lateral movement, the frame itself having means for receiving a retainer which looks the ornaments against movement out from the frame, the re- 10 tainer preferably continually resiliently engaging the selected ornaments so as to prevent any movement whatever relativeto the frame.

Referring to the drawing, the ornament It comprises an ornamental frame H in which one 16 or more ornaments i2 maybe mounted, Fig. 1 showing three ornament letters assembled within the frame. The frame itself is preferably made of metal such as white metal, with precious or semi-precious stones set therein, and the orna- 20 ment letters, see Fig. 7, are preferably also set with stones. A base finding I3 is secured to the back of the frame, as by soldering or the like, this base consisting of a metal plate having a central opening M, upper and lower edges I 5 and it which are provided with spaced aligned recesses ll, and sides l8 and I9 each having spaced resilient rolls 2B which may be formed by rolling the metal as illustrated. The con struction of the base finding i3 is such as to permit stamping out in automatic presses.

Associated with the base finding is a retainer 2 i, see Fig. 6, which has upper and lower edges 22 and 23, each preferably provided with a thin slot 24, and sides 25 and 26 provided with finger engageable tabs 27 which are of a size to seat in the spaces between the resilient rolls 20, the sides 25 and 26 being thin and bevelled to permit snapping thereof past the rolls 2i so as to lock the retainer to the base after the selected initials [2 have been set in position in the aligned recesses Ill.

The elements l2 are provided with positioning lugs 28 at each end thereof adapted to seat into the aligned recesses ll, the preferred construc- 5 tion consisting of two parts spaced so that their sides closely contact the sides of the recesses ill and their ends closely contact the ends of the recesses ET, the parts being below the ornament surface so as to position the ornament surface flush with or out from the frame surface when the ornament is seated in its recesses.

The above described construction provides a very simple arrangement for mounting initial letters in frames, and particularly when the initial letters or the frames, or both, are set with stones or gems such as marcasites. The letters may be readily positioned within the base finding and are held therein against lateral movement; the retainer is then snapped into position, its bevelled edges snapping past the resilient rolls 20 so as to firmly retain the ornament letters within the frame. The edge slots 24 have been found desirable in order to impart sufi'icient resiliency to the retainer edges, which contact the under surface of the lugs 28 and thus resiliently retain the letters against any movement whatever.

When the frame is used as a brooch, pin connections such as indicated in Fig. 2 at 29 may be used, the pin being hinged as at 30 and having a point receivable in the usual catch 3|.

The above described construction utilizes a detachable retainer; if desired, a retainer such as indicated at 32 in Fig. 9 may be used instead, having a hinge element 33 at one edge thereof, and a finger tab 34 at the other edge thereof, the hinge element being adapted to be seated between the rolls 20 at one side of the base finding so as to permit passage of a pivot pin 35 therethrough, whereby the retainer becomes a swinging element permanently secured to the base finding, with its free edge snapping over the cooperating rolls 20 at the other end of the base finding, for the purpose described.

While I have described a specific constructional embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that changes in the shape, the relative size, the proportions and the materials used, for the parts, and in the means for obtaining the locking effeet and the resilient application of pressure to the back of the ornaments, may be made in accordance with different jewelry design requirements, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a frame having an opening, a base finding secured to said frame and hav ing an ornament receiving opening, said ornament receiving opening having upper and lower edges and sides, and said edges having aligned recesses, an ornament having aligning lugs at each end seated in said recesses, said base finding having resilient elements at said sides, and a lock element having upper and lower portions engaging said aligning lugs and bevelled side portions engaging said resilient elements.

2. In combination, a frame having an opening, a base finding secured to said frame and having an ornament receiving opening, said ornament receiving opening having upper and lower edges and sides, and said edges having aligned recesses, an ornament having aligning lugs at each end seated in said recesses, said base finding having resilient elements at said 1 sides, and a lock element having upper and lower portions engaging said aligning lugs and side portions engaging said resilient elements, said lock element upper and lower portions having longitudinal slits.

3. In combination, a frame having an opening, said opening having upper and lower edges and sides, and said edges having aligned recesses, an ornament having aligning lugs at each end seated in said recesses, said frame having spaced resilient elements at said sides, and a lock element having upper and lower portions engaging said aligning lugs and side portions engaging said resilient elements, said side portions having projections adapted to enter between said spaced resilient elements.

4. In combination, a frame having an opening, a base finding secured to said frame and having an ornament receiving opening, said base finding opening having upper and lower edges and sides, said edges having aligned recesses, and said sides each having spaced resilient rolls, an ornament having aligning lugs at each end seated in said recesses, and a lock element having an opening, the upper and lower edges of said lock element engaging said lugs and the sides engaging said resilient rolls and having tabs positioned between said resilient rolls.

5. In combination, a frame having an opening, a base finding secured to said frame and having an ornament receiving opening, said base finding opening having upper and lower edges and sides, said edges having aligned recesses, and said sides each having spaced resilient rolls, an ornament having aligning lugs at each end seated in said recesses, and a lock element having an opening, the upper and lower edges of said lock element being slit longitudinally and engaging said lugs and the sides engaging said resilient rolls and having tabs positioned between said resilient rolls.

6. In combination, a frame having an opening, a base finding secured to said frame and having an ornament receiving opening, said base finding opening having upper and lower edges and sides, said edges having aligned recesses, one side having hinge parts and the other side having spaced resilient rolls, an ornament having aligning lugs at each end seated in said recesses, and a lock element having an opening and hinged at one side to said hinge parts, the upper and lower edges of the lock element engaging said lugs and the other side engaging said resilient rolls and having a tab positioned between said resilient rolls.

ANGELO DEL SESTO. 

